View Venus as it moves through Virgo

A skygazer enjoys Venus with a visible corona phenomenon produced by the diffraction of light by individual small water droplets and sometimes tiny ice crystals of a cloud. The location is the Giant’s Causeway, near Bushmills, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland.

Miguel Claro from Corroios, Portugal

Venus dominates the twilight sky after sunset on Wednesday. The dazzling object shines at magnitude –4.7 among the background stars of southern Virgo.

The planet stands 8° high 30 minutes after sundown and sets shortly after 8:30 p.m. local daylight time. A telescope reveals Venus’ disk, which spans 35" and appears about one-third lit.

This evening, you also can find the waxing crescent Moon hanging just 9° above the planet.

Plan observing targets for every night by catching up with Astronomy's The Sky This Week column.